Recovery
by Kittykat1418
Summary: Finally succeeding in her escape, Misty's life almost ended in a single second due to piercing cold. But she was found by a loving family willing to take her in, and what about that cute black haired boy with the Pikachu. How could she say no...if it weren't for her heavy trauma and phobia of men, will she recover? Rated T for referenced abuse and some language.
1. Snow

Remember when I wrote Dark Life, my dark pokeshipping story. I feel in love with the environment that the characters lived in, but I could never focus on properly establishing how the world worked because the focus was on the main story. So how about I make an AU of that story, where Misty got away a lot sooner before some of the harsher stuff happened so I can focus on writing the story as more slice of life. No, this isn't really a rewrite of Dark Life...but I don't mind if people consider it to be. Its simply an alternate take, containing some of the darker tones of the original...but it's overall lighter and more comfortable to write. Misty won't be in character fully, but how can you expect her...but she'll be closer then her portrayal in Dark Life.

* * *

Snow filtered down from the sky, delicate snowflakes trickling down. Darken roofs were lightened by snow and frost, as lights glimmered in and out. Darkness arose, leaving a lightly lit street of snow and ice. Few cars and people past through, leaving little sounds of life to be heard. Snow painted the roofs white, fog whitened the windows and left imagination as the only clue for the interior of the buildings It was so serene, silent and chilled. Until, a gasp of pain and sorrow filled the air from a nearby alleyway. The chill was strong, air blasting through without mercy. The injured soul struggled to walk forward as a soft whimper left her throat as her short tangerine orange hair remained limp at the side of her head. "A-arceus, it hurts so m-much..." she stuttered, chilled to the bone and in desperation for help. Bundled in her arms was, protected from the frigid weather, was a tiny egg-like creature and a brown, furry creature that resembled a fox.

Blood trickled down her legs, staining as it went and coated her socks. Seeping through her thin clothes, blood clotted and escaped from her injured side. Cold merged into the wound, freezing it and applying to the pain. All this blood weakened the girl, as it drained from her essence and splattered upon the thick snow below her. "T-there's n-nothing I can do..." she whispered, leaning against the wall by a nearby bin with her arms curled in a last desperate effort to save her beloved friends from the cold. "Someone...help..." she let the cry of agony, misery and desperation escape her throat as a weak wheeze on the wind. Her fingers were froze stiff, blue at the tips. Similar to this was her nose and ears, her toes were spared this torture a little by the rotten shoes that she was wearing. Finally, blood lost and the cold got to her and she stumbled back with spots coating her vision, landing next to the bin with a jarring crack in her left ankle.

It wouldn't be long.

Mere seconds later, her eyes started to fade in and out as her breathing slowed. Curling herself, she attempted in vain to keep the creatures warm even if she wasn't going to make it. Footsteps filled her ears, and a wistful fear filled her. Had the thing she escaped from...had it found her? Even though her eyes, glossed over and sore, she desperately looked into the flurry of snow and prepared herself. She wasn't going down without a fight, her heart pounded in her chest. Fear. Anger. Worry. Horrid feelings plagued her mind. But, the sight of a smaller...more innocent figure relaxed her system and she finally went unconscious to the cold as a cry of worry filled her ears in the last millisecond.

* * *

As her senses returned, she was exposed straight to the agonizing pain of a migraine. Pound after pound, refusing to give any mercy. Her second sense told her the temperature, she was warmer and her fingers were flexible. Stiffness didn't occur, as she managed to curl her fingers with some pain from the broken bones. One by one, she began to smell and feel. Sensations of a smooth and soft quilt above her reached her first, instinctively causing her to nuzzle a bit more. Never had she felt such luxuries, though the scent of hospital bleach wrecked her nose and almost caused her to puke out whatever remained in her stomach. Tasting the bile was the next thing that hit her, nearly sending her into a gasping coughing fit as she struggled to maintain her breathing.

After a while of laying still, sounds were picked up by her delicate ears. One by one, voices spoke around her. 4 distinct, each of different vocal range. Guessing, she worked out each voice as they spoke. "But, dad. What can we do, she's so injured!" came the rugged, boyish tones of a child. Characterized by a sense of rebellious nature as well as childish wonder. It almost brought a sad smile to her face, though tears did sparkle in the corners of her still heavy eyes. For a second, she wondered if the innocent figure that she remembered was this little boy.

"Max is right," came another voice, feminine this time. Too young to be full grown, but definitely the sounds of a pubescent girl. Soft sounds of a meowing could be heard after she talked, a cat-like Pokemon perhaps. "We can't just leave her here, she's obviously been through a lot. Y-you can't tell me that her injuries weren't from an attack of some kind, she could be traumatized and you're suggesting that we put her into a fostering program with people that she won't know until she gets there?"

A sigh could be heard, but no male voice continued. Instead a womanly voice, potentially Max's and the other girl's mother, spoke instead. "Now Norman, the kids are right. We have more than enough space for her, we have that spare room that you could complaining never gets used as May's friends always sleep over in her bedroom. She could do with support from people that she has meet quite quickly after awakening. Plus, Max said that she actually looked at him before collapsing with a small whisper of 'help'."

Groggily, she managed to finally force her eyes to flicker open. Light burst into her retinas, burning her vision for a second as she coughed out. This certainly got the attention of the family in the room, which she tried to focus on. Seconds later, soft and calming hands held her arm in comfort. "Are you alright," it was the younger female voice, which resorted in the tangerine haired girl attempting to focus her dull viridian eyes on the person holding her. In her spotted vision, she could see a brown haired girl wearing a bandanna. The girl's blue eyes were full of worry and concern.

Straining her weakened, hoarse voice, she managed to force out. "N-no...w-water..." she asked, her mouth suddenly dry from her rugged attempt at speaking. This prompted a dark green-black haired boy to hand her a glass of water that had been resting on the bedside table, clearly placed for this very request. Holding it, she felt so weak as she struggled to keep her grip. But she held it firm enough as she gently pushed it upward and drank it away. Afterwards, she did proceed to wipe her lips of the water as she looked around the room with fearful eyes. Fiddling with her hands, she remained in a undisturbed silence of fear and awkwardness.

Eventually, someone spoke. It wasn't the tangerine haired girl, but rather the mother of the family in the room. "So, dearie. Are you feeling any better, you've been asleep for a few days after my son found you in the snow...freezing and bleeding to death."

Instead of responding to the question, something snapped in the girl as she gasped out. "W-where's Togepi and Eev-" she was cut off by a choking fit, sending her curling up into herself as her throat tried to get out whatever had got stuck.

The brown haired girl gently rubbed the injured girl's back in comfort, after her mother had given the poor girl a bucket. The smell of revolting, bile had rose in the girl's throat and left within seconds. Her nose almost couldn't take it, but she held back in attempt to help the girl. "Don't speak too much, you're too weak. As for your friends, they're quite alright. The Pokemon center in currently looking after them, they were very protective over you. Even the little Togepi was trying it's hardest to protect you, even from us and we were trying to get you to safety."

Tears began to escape out of the girl's eyes at the thought of her beloved Pokemon. ' _Eevee...Togepi...thank you..._ ' she thought as she felt a wave of happiness rush over her for a second, only to fade when she remembered they weren't around her. A faint whisper escaped her lips, full of confusion and worry. "W-who...a-are you a-anyway...?" it was simple, but full of fear. She didn't trust the older man that was around, wisps of memories filled her head and nearly caused her to cry and scream on the spot but she held back.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, dearie," the older woman said, her brown hair bobbing downstairs as she bowed in apologies. "My name is Caroline Maple," after saying this, she pointed towards the older man that hadn't said a word and was simply watching the tangerine haired girl with weariness on his face. She honestly couldn't blame him. "This is my husband, Norman," then she looked over at the teenage girl and the young boy. "And that's my daughter, May, and Son, Max. Max was the one, who found you after he picked up on your cry for help. If he hadn't heard you, then...the result would have been death for you," there was sadness in the woman's eyes, such that surprised the tangerine haired girl a little. "New, sweetie, what's your name. We should know."

Blinking back her tears, the girl thought long and hard. She doesn't trust these people one bit, but...it was only respectful if she responded to them? Right? "I-I'm M-Misty W-Waterflower...12 years old."

* * *

Alright, that's our start up. Definitely different to the original story as you can tell. That's why I don't consider it a rewrite as much as it's a AU. If the quality slipped towards the end, then it's because I got the flu...but I wanted to finish up and release it so I could find out what people thought.


	2. News

Sorry for the long wait, honestly this chapter was kinda hard. I didn't know how to write it properly, but I finally finished it. It's a little short, but serves its purpose.

* * *

Not long as she had whispered her name, Misty's breathing shallowed once more as she grunted in pain. Asleep for a few days, yet wake up in pain and still tired. What a load of aggravation, yet she blamed none of it on the family that found her or the hospital people. They were only trying to help. It's her own damn fault for thinking that she could get away in the middle of winter. Why didn't she think ahead, why was she so stupid! Her thoughts were a losing battle, clearly her self-blame was overpowering and she mostly let it. Caroline and Norman had gone to collect the doctors, whilst May and Max remained near the injured girl in a bitter silence. Neither knowing what to say or and they certainly had no clue that she was blaming herself for everything.

Eventually, May cut through the awkward silence with a simple, if innocent, question. "S-so, Misty, w-was it? What were y-you doing out in the cold," her voice was filled with such awkwardness, it was clear that she was just trying to spark up a conversation to rid the room of the awful silence. However, Misty wasn't in the mood to talk as her bandaged side restricted her breathing a little. Plus, she didn't want to talk about the reasoning behind her escape. It'd just bring up bad memories and she was already a shell of her former self, without slipping further.

So, instead of responding, she managed a gasped whisper. "W-what's gonna h-happen?..." it was short, in a gasped breathe of air. Her lungs burned with air, as she struggled to move her arms in a desperate attempt to find a part of her not strung by pain. That's when she found her left ankle, untouched by the rest of her nerves and sensations. She couldn't feel it. _Broken..._ she thought, tears near whelming up. In her attempt at escape, she had only caused more pain. What about the people that still loved her, why...did she run?... _Because...I would have died if I stayed...o-one r-r-..._ even in her thoughts, her traumatic experience kept one desperate word behind stutters. _Was enough to b-break me..._ she finished, not even caring about the lack of the word.

"Oh, we haven't thought much about it..." May lied, through the grit of her teeth. The family had only just been fighting about it after all, the house was large enough to support one more mouth. She knew it personally, having her friends come over basically once a week without much of a warning sometimes. Sighing, she looked down at her hands that Misty noticed were cupped around a cat-like Pokemon with a crescent moon embedded in it's forehead's pink and white pattern. Seemingly noticing what Misty's eyes were trailing on, May formed a smile. "Oh, you wanna know who this is? She's my friend, a Skitty that my father adopted many years ago and I raised until today. She's not my only Pokemon, but she was my first."

Feeling a little less awkward talking to someone that was her own age, roughly. It was something Misty preferred over talking to Caroline, the older woman left her really worried about safety and being sent back... "O-oh...Eevee was my f-first Pokemon..." she whisper, deciding to talk about her own beloved friends. "She was a gift from my mother..." her voice slowed, sound fading away at the memory. Though, the sadness certainly wasn't the only reason, her voice had gone scratchy and rugged as her mind switched on with the desperate want to rest.

"So we have something in common, our first Pokemon were gifts from our parents?" May commented with a gentle smile, before she noted that Misty definitely wanted to rest up. With a quick decision later, she decided to hand some more water as she knew Misty needed to stay awake for when the doctors arrived. "I can see your tired, but we need to get you sitting up stably since the doctors will want to talk to you."

Whilst nervous about chatting with strangers, Misty nodded in slight and drowsy agreement. May shuffled the pillows beneath the girl's head and adjusted the tangerine haired trainer's body so that she was in a comfortable, but stable sitting position. Smiling, the brown haired Hoenn-decent nodded her head with satisfaction of her 'work'. Gently, she petted her Skitty's head as she prepared to continue talking. She also kept a firm eye on Max, who was sitting in the corner awkwardly. It was clear that the young boy had no clue what to say or do in this situation. Suddenly, she felt a movement in her hand as Skitty leaped onto the bed before she could stop her. "Ski-skitty!" the little kitten-like Pokemon cried out, sniffing and meowing at Misty for attention.

Even though she was surprised by the sudden Pokemon on her lap, Misty managed a smile and gently petted against the pink Pokemon's crescent moon. May sighed with relief. "I thought she was going to scare you, but you seem more relaxed with Pokemon than with humans..." she commented, trying to be as gentle and nice as humanly possible.

 _Pokemon didn't hurt me...except...bugs..._ Misty thought, not wishing to say her thoughts. She didn't know if she could trust May or her family yet, and she didn't want to reveal something that could potentially hurt them...as well as herself. Eventually, she forced a small whisper. "...Y-your name was M-may, r-right? W-why do you want to help me so much?...Y-you...don't know me..."

"It's not a case of helping someone familiar, Misty. Anyone would want to help someone when they were out in drastic weather like that or clearing hurting from a past event," May's smile was comforting, Misty had to admit that much. Suddenly, a noise caused the trio of children's heads to snap towards the door. Coming in, followed by a white-coated female doctor, were the parents of the Maple family.

The doctor was kind, even though she unnerved Misty, as she gentle asked questions. "So...miss Maple informs me that your name is Misty Waterflower, correct. I have looked at your background information. Your mother and father are divorced, and you were leaving with your father and three older sisters. Yet, you were out in the blizzard on your own..."

With fear drying her mouth and increasing her heart rate, Misty stayed silent and rigid. This resulted in a sign from the doctor. "Moving on from that, we found multiple cuts and bruises on your skin. Plus, damage to your left ear that likely has affected your hearing," well that must have obvious to the tangerine haired girl, she just hoped that the doctor hadn't found out the rest. She didn't want to hear it, didn't want to, didn't wan- "...We also found severe damage in the pelvic region, likely from an assault."

That did it, like a deer in headlights, Misty's eyes widened and she just froze with glimmers of tears in her eyes. She didn't want to relieve that, not again...she just stood there shaking in paranoia. She half-wished to go back to that horrid place, anywhere but here. Reliving the nightmare all over again. Why was she stupid, she now wished she had never called out for help. Dying in the cold would have been quicker and painless, unlike this. _I just want to die..._

For the briefest of seconds in her frigid state, she could see the horror merged into May's blue eyes. Must have been a shocker, finding out that the girl she had been helping had been raped. As she came back into reality, she could hear the doctor saying something though her right ear barely picked any of it up. Besides a single phrase that stood out. "Luckily, the assault hasn't resulted in pregnancy. However..." Misty forced her tear-stained cheeks upwards as she strained her ears. "You may not be able to have children, your uterus was damaged in an attack..."

That was what did it, it was strange as she was only 12 after all. But hearing that she could never be a mother to anything, but her Pokemon, just broke her and she let out a wail of pain. All this resulted in May gripping hold of her in attempt to calm the crying girl down, even though she too was quite shocked at this information. After all, Misty had said that she was her age. 12 years old. Being told you might not be able to have any children of your own, when loads of children love playing house or pretending to be each other's parents as a hidden wish of wanting to raise children of their own. To have that responsibility. In a second, she felt rage build up. Whoever had caused this had better get what was coming to them, though she didn't let this wish verbalize.

After her tear-ducts had dried up, Misty just kept herself latched onto May for any semblance of comfort. Even though she would regret it later, she needed something, anything, right now. Noticing this, the doctor brought herself to continue. "However, on a more positive note, you will be able to leave the hospital in the morning. Provided that you have somewhere to go," this little statement had caused May to freeze a little, to what Misty noticed. However she didn't care, she just wanted this nightmare to be over. For everything to be over...

* * *

Well, ain't that grim. Heh...Don't worry, following next chapter. We should be into a less dark territory.


End file.
